FAQ

Electronic procurement (e‐procurement) is use of electronic tools and systems to increase efficiency and reduce costs during each stage of the purchasing process. It is the purchasing of goods and services using the internet. It:

Ø Covers full life cycle of purchasing (from indent to receipt of goods)

An e-Tendering Portal is a Web based application which offer services for e-tendering. NPCIL officials / suppliers can access this portal either through a link provided at NPCIL’s official web site or directly through URL https://npcil.etender.in, for floating of e-tender or to participate in online bidding process.

It is one time process of filling a registration form by the vendor which may be accessed by clicking upon "Portal enrollment for New Bidders" link available on e-Tendering Portal to obtain their login ID & Password. This login ID & Password can be activated after completing the system authentication through their email.

After activation kindly upload the relevant documents in support of your enrollment and map your digital certificate. Please refer "Instructions to bidders" available under download of this website for further clarity.

This login ID & Password can be used to participate in online bidding process.

THERE ARE NO CHARGES FOR SUPPORT OR ENROLMENT FOR THE NPCIL e-TENDERING PORTAL.

I have enrolled my company on e-Procurement portal. Why I have not received any confirmation mail?

As you complete your enrollment, system generates a confirmation mail to your registered email id. So if you have entered wrong email id you may not receive the registration confirmation mail. Kindly Contact Help Desk for Assistance.

What is digital certificate? Why it is required?
A digital signature is an electronic signature that can be used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message or the signer of a document, and to ensure that the original content of the message or document that has been sent is unchanged. Digital signatures are easily transportable, cannot be imitated by someone else, and can be automatically time-stamped. A digital signature can be used with any kind of message, whether it is encrypted or plaintext. As per Indian IT Act, 2000 use of valid digital certificate is mandatory for any e-Tendering portal.

Major objectives for using digital certificate are as mentioned below:-

Authentication- Digital signatures are used to authenticate the source of messages. The ownership of a digital signature key is bound to a specific user and thus a valid signature shows that the message was sent by that user.

Integrity - In many scenarios, the sender and receiver of a message need assurance that the message has not been altered during transmission. Digital Signatures provide this feature by using cryptographic message digest functions

Non Repudiation – Digital signatures ensure that the sender who has signed the information cannot at a later time deny having signed it.

The Indian Information Technology Act 2000 (http://www.mit.gov.in/content/information-technology-act) came into effect from October 17, 2000. One of the primary objectives of the Information Technology Act of 2000 was to promote the use of Digital Signatures for authentication in e-commerce & e-Governance. Towards facilitating this, the office of Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) (www.cca.gov.in) was set up in 2000. The CCA licenses Certifying Authorities (CAs) to issue Digital Signature Certificates (DSC) under the IT Act 2000. The standards and practices to be followed were defined in the Rules and Regulations under the Act and the Guidelines that are issued by CCA from time to time. The Root Certifying Authority of India (RCAI) was set up by the CCA to serve as the root of trust in the hierarchical Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) model that has been set up in the country. The RCAI with its self-signed Root Certificate issues Public Key Certificates to the licensed CAs and these licensed CAs in turn issue DSCs to end users.

Section 5 of the Act gives legal recognition to digital signatures based on asymmetric cryptosystems. The digital signatures are now accepted at par with the handwritten signatures and the electronic documents that have been digitally signed are treated at par with the paper based documents.

An Amendment to IT Act in 2008 has introduced the term electronic signatures. The implication of this Amendment is that it has helped to broaden the scope of the IT Act to include other techniques for signing electronic records as and when technology becomes available.

How do I get a valid digital certificate?
You can get a valid digital certificate from any of the certifying authorities being authorized by government of India. Below is the list of CAs

e-MudhraCA - www.e-Mudhra.com

Safescrypt - www.safescrypt.com

NIC - www.nic.in (Only for Government Organisations)

IDBRT - www.idrbtca.org.in

iCertCA - www.icert.gov.in

GNFC - www.ncodesolutions.com

What is e-token/USB token?

e-Token is a hardware mechanism used for password authentication via using identity management technique and provides hacking problem solution to the user. It looks similar to pen drive and fixes in the USB port of the computer.

Secured login: Unlike traditional website, e-Tendering portal requires login id, password and valid digital certificate. Password is also stored in encrypted manner so that it cannot be viewed by even system or database administrator.

Process Validation: The Solution has been so architected that a user (Department Officers / Bidders) cannot view the commercial bid of any Bidder till the date & time specified for the opening of the commercial bid is due.

Data Encryption: The solution supports 128 bit encryption and all the price bids received against a tender are encrypted at the database level.

SSL: 128 bit SSL is being used for secure communication to take place between browser and server.

Unauthorized access: The entire solution is behind a firewall and intrusion detection system that protects it against unauthorized access and hacker

Compliance to Indian IT Act: The complete e-Tendering process is compliant with IT Act, 2000 of the Govt.of India.

How to view tenders details and download the documents?
Details of all Public Tenders (PT), Limited Tenders (LT), Single Tenders (ST) can be viewed by anyone from the home page. Limited Tender (LT) or Single Tender (ST) participation is allowed only to the intended bidders who shall be able to submit the bids.

However the Tenderers are required to meet the Qualification Criteria stipulated, if any, under the tender. It may be noted that uploading of documentary evidence with respect to qualifying requirements is mandatory.

How to logon to the e-Procurement portal?
You need to enter correct login id, password and valid digital certificate to logon to the website.

What to do if I forgot a password?
You can use “forgot your password” functionality available on the home page. You need to provide your email id. A system Generated email will be sent containing a link to reset your password.

Can I use a same digital certificate with the different login ids?
No, once a digital certificate is mapped with any of one login id the same digital certificate can not be used with other login ids.

How do I change the password?

After logging into the website. You can change your password by using change password facility available under “My Profile>>Edit User Information”

Can I update my enrollment details?

Yes, you can update your enrollment details by accessing “My Profile>>Edit User Information” functionality after logging into the e-Procurement portal.

You can upload and save all the supporting documents like past experience certificate, ISO certificate etc in “My Briefcase” and can reuse and attach these any time for future tender submission online.

Alternatively, You may upload supporting document along with tender itself without saving in briefcase also.

System displays the corrigendum count for each tender. System increases the count as any corrigendum / Amendment is published. You can view the complete corrigendum / Amendment details by clicking on corrigendum / Amendment link.

How to submit technical, price bid online? Do I need to scan the technical & price bid and to upload it?

After logging into the website, you need to fill in required fields details in the bidding format available in the system only. Don't upload scanned price bid documents.

Can I access the e-Procurement portal on any date, any time?
Yes, you may access e-Procurement portal on any date and any time except maintenance time period.

Till what time I can submit a tender online?

You need to “Check & Submit Bid” of a tender (dropping a tender in Electronic Time Stamped Tender Box) as per the submission end date & time mentioned in a tender notice of respective tender. System would not accept any tender once the submission date & time is lapsed.

Important Note : Bidders are advised to submit their bids well in time to avoid any last minute hindrance.

How secure my data is before doing a “Check & Submit Bid” of a tender?
While preparing a technical & price bid, the data is encrypted with your public key before submission of a data to the server. This data can only be decrypted with your own private key.

How secure my data is after doing a “Check & Submit Bid”?
At the time of “Check & Submit Bid”, your data is encrypted with the concern government officer's public key and stored in the database. This data can only be decrypted using that government officer's private key after tender opening date & time.

What if I accidentally submit the same tender twice?
System doesn't allow you to accidently submit same tender twice. But if you want to edit the already submitted offer you can withdraw your tender and resubmit within due date and time.

Is it necessary to submit a complete tender in one go?
No, you may prepare technical bid, price bid phase wise. i.e. you may prepare and save your bid and later on you can do final submission of a complete tender.

How do I confirm that my tender is submitted successfully?

On successful completion of final submission of a tender, system generates an online receipt which is a proof of online final submission.

How to submit tender document fees?
As per the instructions given in the tender notice, you may submit tender document fees online for online tender and offline for manual tenders.

How can I track the status of my tender? Can I attend tender opening online?

IN NPCIL YOU CAN PARTICIPATE IN RESULT SHARING IN CASE OF PUBLIC TENDERS and LIMITED TENDERS. You can see the Price bids of all the bidders.

We always appreciate feedback/complain/suggestion from our users. You can send details on support.npcil@nextenders.com , In case the problem is not resolved forward the same email to etender@npcil.co.in Or you may contact us: Nextenders (India) Pvt. Ltd.Contact No: Helpdesk Support: - 020-25315555

NPCIL EMAIL ID FOR COMMUNICATION SPECIFIC TO TENDERS OR ANY OTHER QUERY PERTAINING TO TENDERS FOR RESPECTIVE SITES:

1.‘Certificate Does not have permission ‘error while Load Certificate
Proper E token Driver not installed or user system doesn’t have administrator privilege

2.‘Select Proper Certificate from the list’ issue while doing login
If user select another certificate than user assign certificate

3.Single tender is not visible to vendor after login
Single tender is available in limited tender tab and if in limited tab tender is not available then another user is assigned to tender.

4.Offline Single tender is not visible after login as they got invitation mail
Offline Single tender is available in limited tender tab. And if not available in limited tab then Mail id is wrong or otherwise username is different.

5.Java Pop Ups are not coming after login
Check Java setting Control Panel->Right click on Java->select Open->Click on Security tab->Scroll down to medium

6.Certificate Pop Up is not coming while doing Load certificate
Check Java setting Control Panel->Right click on Java->select Open->Click on Security tab->Scroll down to medium

7.Can’t Create Object Error is coming while login
Nxtcrypto Utility is not installed on user system Add URL: npcil.etenders.in-> System Requirement-> Download DC setup
And then installed.

8. Report is not Showing After Opening.
Only Commercial report is showing after opening for those vendor who submitted bid or proceed for bid preparation

9. Email is not triggered after registration .
Email Address is not valid or Internet connection is slow